You and 12 other vehicles have just driven several miles down the road on your way to the trailhead. Excitement ran through your veins as the howl of mud terrains roared over the asphalt. Lots of people who are way less fortunate than you (those driving little Hondas, and Nissans, and other silly cars), gaze at you with envy as your convoy passes. Nearing the trailhead, the leader stops the group after making sure everyone is well clear of the main road. All of a sudden, there’s a hubbub of activity, hissing tires, and other stuff going on. What are you supposed to do now?

Your fellow Jeepers are locking their hubs, disconnecting their front sway bars, and airing down their tires. Chances are, you won’t need to lock your hubs. Most late model 4-wheel drive vehicles have automatic locking hubs, which automatically engage when you shift your transfer case into 4WD.  However, some people install aftermarket conversions kits, which replace auto locking hubs with the old-style manual-locking type.  Check your vehicle's owners manual if you are unsure which type of hubs you have.

The purpose of your front sway bar (actually, it’s an anti-sway bar), is to increase the lateral stability of your vehicle during higher-speed turns on the road. You know how when you’re traveling about 30 mph or so, and you make a hard right turn, the vehicle leans outside the turn to the left? The anti-sway bar’s job is to minimize that body roll towards the outside of your turns.   Here's what the factory anti-sway bar looks like under the front end of your Jeep TJ.   It's normally bolted, via a thin vertical rod, to your front axle on both sides.  However, this picture shows a set of Teraflex New-Generation Quick Disconnects installed.  For more information about this particular brand of quick discos, visit my Suspension Page.  But why not just disconnect the sway bar and leave it disconnected?  Cuz it will adversely affect your handling on the road, resulting is a significant high-speed roll-over hazard--a very ugly situation!  

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So why bother disconnecting the sway bar at all?  While it increases your stability on the road, it also limits your axle "flexibility" (a.k.a., "articulation") on the trail.  I’ll discuss the importance of good flexibility later on.  But for now, suffice it to say that many Jeepers install quick disconnects, which allows them to quickly and easily disconnect the sway bar for trail use, and then reconnect again it for on-road use.

Moving right along . . . airing down your tires provides several benefits. First and foremost, it produces a larger "footprint" on the ground, which will result in increased traction. On the other hand, it will also cause a "mushy" feel. This would create a dangerous situation at higher speeds on the road, but since you are going slow on the trail, it isn’t usually a problem.  Airing down also provides for a softer ride, and it reduces the probability of tire punctures by allowing the tire to "wrap" around sharp rocks and other debris. So how much air should you let out of your tires? That depends on the size & width of your tires, and the weight of your vehicle. But as a general rule, I would recommend between 15 – 20 psi on a Jeep TJ with stock tires (215/75R15’s). The larger the tire, the lower you can go. I usually run around 12 psi in my 35X12.50/15 Goodyear MT/R's.  There are numerous different ways to air down; from depressing the valve stem with the head of a nail, to a myriad of fancy-schmancy automatic air-down gadgets that are available on the aftermarket. For more information on this subject, visit my On-Board Air Page.

The last thing that should happen before hitting the trail, is the Drivers’ Meeting.  A good Trail Leader should cover the following items:

Please Proceed to Lesson #3